Idaho semi-weekly world. [volume] (Idaho City, Idaho Territory) 1875-1908, 1887-04-19
STAGE THUNDER.

rom the roof OF the theater through |
an inclined trough which ended in q
tunnel. In this funnel projected nu-
morous bristlc wooden sprofles," or
pegs. When the heavy iron ball came
down this funnel, crashing
.nd breaking the wood, it sounded as
4 the house was tumbling. Thunder
made Forrest warm up 10 his work, |
especially as King Lear, play in
which the boys kept the balls rolling |
very lively during the th I'd act Often
zach made Calchas shake thin sheet
IF iron, in imitation of Jupiter Olympus,
and that way of making thunder is
used now in south Europe. The Saxon
idea Of thunder, which mythology tells
as was made BY Thor throwing his
hammer from Walhaila and finally
striking something. brought different
sounds to the ear than that shaken out
from sheet of tin or iron. And the
final thud and crash is made now in
Germany by the rafting Of tin first and
the breaking of thin pine board by
:obblestone hurled by the scene-shifter.
The late Mr.. f. L. Davenport once
said that the finest thunder he had
aeard was one of these gentlemen tum-
bling down a very rickety stair. and
breaking each step as he bounced down
ward. Booth does not care much how
MS thunder is manufactured. but he
| likes it best when it grumbes in the far
| distance on a bass drum, ending with
'ne or two mighty peals of sharp,
cracking noises at precise points in his
business. Keenc. on the contrary likes
d sharp, loud. and plenty of it.
| Nine. Janauschek likes her thunder
done in the flies by ball rolling from
wing to wing gently, and at times the
prompter rattlcs long piece of sheet
ron, with handle. two or three times
light at the audience. This, the ma
dame thinks, gives the effect of storm.
which comes on, and finally breaks
over her. The prompter. with prompt
book in one hand, shaking the thunder
sheet in the other, is usually the only
,unny thing in madame performance.
The trouble with storm lingering or
numbling thunder is that it sounds
more like an express wagon driving
ovcr very bad pavement Mr.. W. II.
Gillette uses q gentle thunder to imi-
tate a coming carriage, and has stone
whcreon one of the boys beats a gallon
with steel horseshoe. Charles Fech-
'er finally adopted the Foster rumblinq
and final crash. When he fell through
a stage trap, some years before hi
lied, and hurt himself severely, it j!
.aid he thought the noise lie made wa
an excellent article Of thunder, bu
doubted if he could get i substitute
he was very much liked by the stage
lands wherever he went. and putin.
| APP key of beer for them was not
very unusual occurrence.
When Lewis Morrison brought out hi
Faust at the Chicago Columbia thea
er, he used all the known ways of raisin!
, thunder in the Walpurgis yacht scene
More than hundred supcrs were hire,
TO rattle tin sheets from all conceived
, Die places. Charlotte Cushman care
nothing for the quality of her thunder
out she wanted the quantity as bolster
ous as she could get it, and wished tn
d. .hundcrmakers to pause at each thur
, ler-clap in Meg Merril.es'' just Ion
i enough for her to say her lines. Sh
lidn't care for much lightning.
* At the Lyceum theater thunder
. made by rolling stone bowlder dow
g trough. in the bottom of which AZ
/, nailed strips of wood. In the storr
If gathered in Met by Chance TIL
I. thunder was very effective, accompar
| ed as it was by lighting. Severa
4 glass tubes through which ran VIII
n were stretched across the stage in ri.
=. Gags and the electric flash sent throug
q which could be seen through the trans
;s parent glass, and the effect was mac
Is more striking yet by throwing ligh
obscured by dark, threatening CLIQUE
painted on the glass; this was rheecte
On the drop, and gave the backgrouu
i the appearance of u moving mass
Il -ain-laden clouds. In The Brook
the Saulsbnry Troubadours heighte
N the effect by perforated water-pipe
J. the flies. through which the wat
nc sprinkled on the stage, but the thu
Ter and tightening are tame. as the
10 wish to appear surprised BY q passin
O summer shower. James A Herne wa
however. The first to introduce rain {
l. the stage, in Hearts of Oak"
A very good effect OF lightning is Il
le forked streak of fire which blinds NJ
}, Wilson Barrett in his clever imperso
alton of Claudian. hut the device
not new 1t is done in the same ma
ner by Stage Manager Waldron, WI
produces like effect in''Clio." Magn
SUM is sometimes used for flash ligt
ming, and powdered resin bloy
through a quill over the flame OF ca
die is also frequently used. A colt
il ball saturated with alcohol and thro'
from the flies was used in the produ
o. ton of John Howard Payne's "Bi
" tus," and the ball was hurled at t
/. statue of Tarquin.
~ The use of alcohol, however, is
tended with rather serious danger NJ